According to academics, Physician Associates have become ‘substitutes’ for doctors in many hospitals and GP practices

Physician Associates have become ‘substitutes’ for doctors in many hospitals and GP practices, a leading academic has said.

Professor Martin McKee said there appears to be a ‘strong ideological pressure’ to expand roles within the NHS.

In a commentary piece in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, he warned that “growing concerns about patient safety have been ignored” but that the situation “may now be changing”.

Leading doctors, including the Royal College of GPs and the British Medical Association, have called for a freeze on the recruitment of physician associates (PAs) while concerns about the roles are addressed.

Prof McKee, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Faculty of Public Health and Policy, highlighted measures designed to increase the UK’s medical workforce. These include the introduction of physician associates, expanding the number of places in medical schools and proposals to ‘shorten and simplify medical training’.

Professor Martin McKee said there appears to be a ‘powerful ideological push’ to expand roles within the NHS

He added: ‘But changing the medical curriculum takes time, so politicians need a quick solution.

“The answer is to create a new group of workers: physician assistants.

‘They were seen as health workers who could assist doctors, but in many hospitals and primary care facilities they have now become their replacements.

“They provide a way for people who live in places where it is impossible to retain doctors to still get basic care.

‘Although you need a degree to start a course of study, in reality it can be in any number of areas, including homeopathy or the humanities.

‘There are many examples on social media of job descriptions and other documents that imply that their two-year degree is equivalent to a medical degree. Growing concerns about patient safety have been ignored.

‘This situation may now change as doctors and the public become increasingly aware of the issues, primarily patient safety, but also illegal prescribing, unclear accountability and damage to specialist training.

‘However, the contractual and financial arrangements put in place to encourage the expansion of the number of PAs, including salaries that are much higher than those of newly qualified physicians, reflect a strong ideological push to expand their role.’

The concerns were published in an article entitled The Sovietisation of British medicine.

Professor McKee argued that ‘certain developments in contemporary Britain affecting the medical profession show disturbing parallels with Soviet history’.